A citizens' revolt?

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

A citizens' revolt?

It is rather entertaining, at one level, to see Simon Heffer declare an intention to take on Sir Alan Haselhurst at the polls, protesting at the use of his allowances to pay for £12,000-worth of gardening at his country house. 

Heffer, we are told, "joins the growing ranks of public figures who have come forward offering to unseat MPs seen to have abused the system". These include Esther Rantzen, the broadcaster and campaigner. She is to stand against Margaret Moran in Luton South unless the Labour MP resigns over her expenses, including £22,500-worth of dry rot treatment at a house 100 miles from her constituency. 

Robert Harris, the writer, said he had considered challenging Alan Duncan, the shadow Leader of the House – another gardening enthusiast – and Lynn Faulds Wood, the television consumer campaigner, is also prepared to have a go. Then we have David Van Day, the former Dollar singer, who says he is planning to oppose Nadine Dorries.

Another one who is feeding on this "anti-politician mood" is Mr David Cameron. He has stated an intention to re-open the Conservative Party candidate list, accepting applications from all-comers, even if they are not members of his party. 

Added to all that is the non-party party, the Jury team which wants to field a bunch of amateurs who want us to vote for "democracy, accountability and transparency" – without any giving any indication that they understand even the basic nature of the systems they wish to enter.

Looking at these developments in the round, the idea of having Heffer in parliament is indeed entertaining, and he would probably make quite a good MP within the current system. There is a long history of journalists becoming MPs and vice versa, although – as in Julie Kirkbride - the transition is not always successful.

Taken to the extreme, one can even entertain the idea of the country returning a complete deck of 646 "amateur" MPs, stripping out all of the incumbents and starting with a completely clean slate. That, of course, will not happen – but that still leaves the possibility of there being a significant number of amateurs in the next parliament.

Whether we would be better served is another question. Arguably, compared with the ghastly Esther Rantzen, even Margaret Moran and her £22,500-worth of dry rot treatment might seem attractive.

More specifically, while the sentiment is very much against career politicians, in an age when even dustmen call themselves "professionals", one would hope to have professional MPs in parliament – the term signifying that they do at least know what they are doing.

Here, there seems a certain element of confusion as to what MPs actually do – something we have often asked. But the best are very busy indeed, and work extremely hard. They tend to be those who rarely get the high-profile media treatment, not least because they are too busy to indulge in the sort of relentless self-promotion that gets MPs noticed.

And, where the MP attempts to do the job properly – within the constraints of a system that is designed to prevent them from so doing – the work is highly skilled, requires a great deal of aptitude, knowledge, experience and sheer, grinding hard work, leavened with prolonged bouts of frustration, tedium and fatigue. For all the visible glitz and glamour, it is a dreadful job if you do try to do it properly, and is most certainly not one I would enjoy (or even be good at).

Crucially though, the dominant experience is that of frustration. MPs are constantly up against the brick wall of a system that has robbed parliament of its powers and is unresponsive to the needs of a democratic society.

One has to ask, therefore, that if the "professionals" find being an MP such hard going – and find it so difficult to achieve anything – why it is people think that rank amateurs would be any better?

For sure, true "independents" free from party allegiances – if there were enough of them – might force through changes to the system. But that presupposes that they knew enough about the system to know what is wrong with it and what changes were needed. Then they would have to know enough about the procedures to be able to implement their changes, without the "pros" running rings round them and blocking their every move.

Then – ironically – in order to have any effect – the "independents" would have to organise themselves, agree a common line and tactics and then co-ordinate their actions to make sure their agendas prevailed. And hey! We have another political party.

As it is, a bunch of amateurs abroad in the cockpit of parliament would actually strengthen the incumbents. All at sea, without the party machinery to support, inform and co-ordinate them, the newbies would be taken to the cleaners by the established parties. Like as not, those newbies would find out very quickly what every MP already knows – that, as individuals, they are essentially powerless.

As for Mr Cameron and his call for amateur-hour, any party leader would welcome a bunch of novices at his beck and call – ignorant, confused, fearful and compliant, they would be easily maleable and, for a very long time, lambs to the slaughter. Even great egos like Ken Livingston were sucked in, chewed up and spat out, without making their mark.

All that points to the singular and inescapable fact – that the problem is not primarily the MPs, but the system in which they operate. Even the very best are frustrated by it, and new faces – while providing novelty and entertainment – are unlikely to do any better that the current bunch. Many would do far worse.

Therefore, the vital need is to change the system with a view to enabling our parliament to function more effectively. That change is unlikely to come from within parliament itself. This putative citizens revolt, therefore, is probably a dead-end street. Politicians – amateur or not – cannot fix the system on their own. We "the people" are going to have to force the pace.

COMMENT THREAD

Devolving power?

Is Cameron seriously suggeting devolving power to the people? Because, if he is, he does not understand the basic tenet of English political history. Mind you, neither do the media and most of the electorate. A short comment onYou Freedom and Ours. This is important: if those constitutional discussions start with that kind of a misunderstanding we shall get nowhere.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Are we being taken for fools?

Quite understandably, Tory Diary gives an upbeat account of the Elastoplast King's input to the "great constitutional debate" that is beginning to emerge – one positive side-effect of theTelegraph's relentless pursuit of errant MPs. However, some of the negativityfor which this blog is famed and detested in equal measure is found in the comments section.

We ourselves take the view that, in response to Mr Cameron's soaring rhetoric, people are entitled to be suspicious and, after ten years of Blair, even cynical. Any politician needs to recognise that, and should not be surprised if their rhetoric is treated with a certain amount of reserve.

Not least, when Mr Cameron tells us: "I believe the central objective of the new politics we need should be a massive, sweeping, radical redistribution of power ... from the EU to Britain ...", we need to be conscious of the fact that, in order to deliver on this – should it ever become a firm commitment rather than rhetoric – the government would have to abrogate the EU treaties and, effectively, leave the EU.

This would be a highly desirable outcome and it may be what Mr Cameron has in mind. The problem one has with this, however, it that nothing he has said previously has ever suggested that this is his aim, or that he has any intention seriously to engage with the EU with a view to securing a "massive, sweeping, radical redistribution of power." In the context, we would assert that suspicion is an entirely sensible response.

However, in his speech today in Milton Keynes, expanding on the Guardianpiece, we see what appears to be a startling and, on the face of it, an unequivocal commitment:

We will therefore hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, pass a law requiring a referendum to approve any further transfers of power to the EU, negotiate the return of powers, and require far more detailed scrutiny in Parliament of EU legislation, regulation and spending.

In respect of the Lisbon treaty referendum, there are no qualifications and if we can take the words to mean what they appear to mean – not always wise when politicians are speaking – then EU Referendum is back in business. Such as been the prevarication of Tory Party spokesmen, though, that we will need clarification of this before we get too excited. But, if the contents match the label on the tin, UKIP is dead in the water.

Once again though, the worm of doubt insinuates its way into the core. Cameron's original assertion was: "I believe the central objective of the new politics we need should be a massive, sweeping, radical redistribution of power ... from the EU to Britain ...". His new text reads that we (a Conservative government) will "negotiate the return of powers".

It is not unduly cynical to note that there is a huge difference between the two texts, the former being genuinely new while the latter is merely a re-statement of Tory policy, one which we know to have very limited objectives.

Given the care with which Mr Cameron's speeches are drafted, the words used cannot be dismissed as mere loose phrasing. We are entitled to infer from what he says that he means precisely what he says. Any analytical reading of his second text suggests that he has not said very much at all, and that it is entirely at odds with his first text.

Then, of course, there is the vexed question of "negotiation". This has been a vague aspiration in Tory policy for more than 20 years and, each time it has been put, we have asked – in the spirit of genuine inquiry - "… and what if they [the colleagues] say no?". To that, we have never had a satisfactory response, the issue usually being fudged with references to the Thatcher "handbag" strategy.

Thus, while more than happy and willing to be convinced of Mr Cameron's good intentions, textual analysis suggests that we have a way to go before we can accept that what we are being told is anything more than the "same old, same old" tired political rhetoric.

Elsewhere, we have remarked that, whatever else, Cameron is not stupid. He – and those around him – must know that much of the disillusionment with politicians stems from their tendency to offer high-flown rhetoric and then fall short on delivery. Ten years of Blair has hardened us to that.

Therefore, Cameron must also know that we are not going to be satisfied with mere rhetoric. Over the years, politicians have used up any trust and we are not in the mood to give them the benefit of the doubt. Certainly, Peter Hitchin is not in a forgiving mood. In an updated version of an article published last week, he writes:

I've also begun to notice that Mr Cameron now makes much of the fact that Parliament has lost much of its power to "Europe" and the Judges. He speaks as if he plans to correct this. But he knows perfectly well that unless Britain leaves the EU, most of our legislation will be imposed on us by the European Commission. So this seems to me to be just talk.

A small digression here. Vikki Boynton posted last week that the Tory position on Lisbon is: "If the Lisbon Treaty is not yet in force at the time of the next general election, and a Conservative Government is elected, we would put the Treaty to a referendum of the British people, recommending a 'no' vote. If the British people rejected the Treaty, we would withdraw Britain's ratification of it." Seems clear.‘

Yes, it does "seem" clear. It is meant to seem clear. But it is not. A British withdrawal of ratification would be followed by immense pressure from the EU to change that position. There is a great appetite in Brussels to get on with ratification. How would a Cameron government respond to that pressure? I believe it would "negotiate" a "compromise" that would end with Lisbon coming into force more or less as it is. That is the key question, and one you won't get an answer to. Only a government which clearly wished to leave the EU could possibly escape from this bind.

Cameron's performance today raises more questions than answers. But he should realise that he, with the rest of the political classes, is in "Last Chance Saloon". Iain Dale believes that, "What Cameron has done is provide leadership - again - in a way which leaves the other parties trailing in his wake." If he is not and merely playing rhetorical games, taking us for fools, vengeance will be swift and complete. For his sake, I hope he knows what he is doing.

COMMENT THREAD

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